Proctor races to runner-up finish at WAC Championships

Saturday, October 29

Seattle, Wash.

9 A.M.

Grand Canyon

WAC Championships

Proctor races to runner-up finish at WAC Championships

10/29/2016 9:31:00 PM | Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Men's Results Women's Results

By: Charles Hampton

The Grand Canyon men's and women's cross country teams wrapped up their 2016 seasons with fourth and sixth place finishes at the Western Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships at Jefferson Park Golf Course in Seattle, Wash., on Saturday morning.

Despite wet and sloppy conditions due to the rain, Samuel Proctor was aggressive from the start en route to a second-place finish overall. The junior from South Royalton, Vt., covered the men's 8,000m course in 25:06, just under three seconds behind Bryce Miller of UMKC.

Predicted to finish fifth in the pre-championship poll by the coaches, the men overtook New Mexico State for fourth place in the standings, finishing with 102 team points. UMKC scored 46 points to take home the team title, edging out the pre-race favorite, Utah Valley, by one single point. Seattle U finished in third place with 65 team points.

Senior Jose Retana earned All-WAC Second Team honors with a 10^th place finish, running 25:36. Brendan Wagler and Matthew Anciaux finished 23^rd and 27^th, covering the course in 26:22 and 26:32 respectively. Angel Salazar was the Lopes' fifth runner, closing out the team scoring with a 44^th place finish in 27:34. GCU finished four runners in a row as Sammy Schilling (45^th – 27:41), Christopher Baker (46^th – 27:42), and Jonny Holsten (47^th – 27:50) all crossed the finish line in succession.

"It was a rainy, sloppy course today and quite a bit slower than four weeks ago," head coach Sara Slattery said after the race. "Our men ran strong today and were ahead of where we predicted them to be. Sam had the best race of his career today, putting himself up in the front pack early on and went for it. Bryce Miller put a six-to-eight second gap on the pack with 1k to go and Sam reeled him in and almost caught him the last 300m.

"Jose ran a great race, moving up strong in the second half of the race. I was proud of his race and know he has some fast times coming in the spring. Brendan and Matt both ran well today. Brendan has been battling an Achilles injury and missed a few weeks of training and was a little off his best. Matt ran his best race of the season. He continues to improve each week and a year from now he can be one of our top guys."

Mariah Montoya was GCU's top finisher in the women's race, for the second time this season, with a time of 18:50, good for 17^th place overall. Paige Hildebrandt was two spots behind Montoya, finishing at 18:54. The freshman from Peoria, Ariz., just missed out on WAC Freshman of the Year honors, as Julia Yescas of New Mexico State finished after Montoya and less than a second ahead of Hildbrandt. Anna Henry (22^nd – 19:00), Emily Wilkinson (24^th – 19:06) and Lacey Peterson (31^st – 19:19) rounded out the top-five for the Lopes. Elizabeth Balsan (35^th – 19:30), Natalie Cardwell (37^th – 19:35), Kellie Stroupe (39^th – 19:41) and Taylor Bond (44^th – 19:57) were GCU's other finishers in the race.

"The women had an okay day," Slattery said. "Unfortunately, Liz was dealing with a non-running related injury that came on this week and really struggled with it the second half of the race. It was bad timing and I know if she were healthy, could be in that top pack. While the girls were disappointed in the sixth place finish, we were only five points out of fourth. Our women had the tightest pack we have had all season, with a 40-second spread from one to seven."

Utah Valley placed three runners in the top four to secure a repeat team title, while Lila Rice of Seattle U took home the women's individual title with a time of 18:01.